iPhone 5S Release Date and Specs Rumor Roundup – What Will Apple Have in Store?

The Apple IPhone 5S may still be several months away from release, or maybe even closer to a year away, considering the iPhone 5’s September 2012 launch. Still that hasn’t stopped the rumors from floating around, led off by the one that started it all; a report from the Chinese Commercial Times reposted by hit-and-miss tech site DigiTimes in English. This report, as you may have read by now, stated that Apple would be manufacturing 50,000 to 100,000 test units of the “iPhone 5S” next month. Does that mean Apple may be releasing the iPhone 5S (or whatever it will be called) sooner than what is usually expected?

Actually, the rumors aren’t even that premature, considering that the first iPhone 5-related rumors were shared in December 2011, two months after the iPhone 4S’ release. One of the more recent rumors related to the unofficially-named iPhone 5S says that Apple will start actual device production by early spring 2013, which would be ahead of the company’s usual schedule. The report went on to say that Apple might release the iPhone 5S as early as mid-2013. That would again deviate from the recent norm, which is currently late fall releases for Apple’s smartphones; the last time Apple released a smartphone in the middle of the year was when the company launched the iPhone 4 at Worldwide Developers’ Conference (WWDC) 2010.

Specifications and features may not be that much different from the iPhone 5, although the recent departure of one-time iOS “architect”/head Scott Forstall may suggest a vastly rethought and redesigned iOS 7. A larger screen, improved 4G LTE connectivity, an even faster processor (probably a quad-core), enhanced battery life and a better camera sensor are other realistic expectations, though a new iPhone wouldn’t be a new iPhone without some kind of unique feature that would make users really want to own it. We’re looking for Apple to surprise us on this one, much like it did last year with the introduction of Siri on the iPhone 4S.